HELP---we have bats!!!

[blessedby3]

We have been having some "droppings" appear at our side door for a while now. We first thought they were mouse or chipmunk, and tried some critter ridder and decon. Still got the droppings every night. My bil was here recently and said he thought they were bat droppings. They had bats when they lived in Africa and he thought that our bats were in the louvered thingy at the attic area on the end of our house.
We have been shining a light into that vent area every night, and the droppings do seem to be less, but didnt know if anyone had any experience with bats and the best way to get rid of them.
My mom said that the droppings were very dangerous, and a friend of hers had to pay an exterminator $600 to get rid of their bats
I really dont want to have to pay $600
Anyone that has experience with this issue--Ill take any info you can give me- and THANKS

 

[quentina]

I am no expert but, when I was a kid there was one in the house, flying around. It folded itself up so small.....and was on one of those wicker hangings that were so popular back then.

Anyway, my dad hit is with a tennis racket and put it in a pickle jar!

Then we waited for the mate as we were told that they travel in pairs. The next day, the mate had the same thing happen.

I have to say, I was 15 or so and I walked around with a pillow case on my head as I was sure it was going to get caught in the Aqua net.

So no advise, just a story!

 

[blessedby3]

Oh my goodness I think I would die if they were actually in our living area!! Thats what I dont want to happen. We have a screen in that vent area, but my mom says they can chew through anything. YIKES

 

[mlynn]

My sister had them before.

Go outside at dusk and see if you see anything come flying out.this is the time they go out to feed. If you see them count them. Then you have to have somebody come and seal the opening. It has to be done at night before they return in the morning.When they come to seal you will have to count again and make sure you get the same number you did on the 1st count so that you know they are all out.So they can see them out and not seal some in.

 

[dawson5]

We just got rid of bats in our chimney. It's a few day process and you need someone who isn't afraid of heights. At dusk why they fly out, you go out and cover where they are getting in. For our chimney, they sell covers, you mention a louver type thing. I would buy some screen material and tack it in place. There will still be some left, probably babies. You need to go out each night at dusk and try and let the remaining ones out. When all gone, make sure the screen is tacked/nailed down securely.

There are a lot of sites on the 'net about this. They seem to recommend building a home for them (plans online, looks easy to make) to replace what you are taking. You don't want to have the droppings (isn't it called buano ?sp) but they are great to have around because they eat insects. They can keep the mosquito population down.

 

[luvmy3]

We had them where our chimney met the house and instead of paying $500 for someone to come and trap them dh decided to take matters into his own hands. He didn't wait till night, instead he took a hose and squirted the place they were getting in and there had to be 100 bats fly out If my dh wasn't so funny to watch as he was screaching like a girl battling all the bats coming at him, or the elderly neighbor wasn't moving at mach speed to get back into her house I would have been petrified. Instead I found it pretty comical
We sealed the area up ourselves with piece of plastic to cover the opening and some kind of spray that dh had. We also made sure that they were not able to get into the attic because their droppings can cause disease, including blindness.

If you wait until the night, how would you know if they all came out and you weren't sealing any up? Do the babies come out too?

 

[pyrxtc]

As long as they are not harming the spot they are staying, bats are great to have around. We have 3 bat houses to welcome them. A single bat can eat over 40,000 mosquitoes in 1 night.

As long as they are not in the house or destroying anything, I would leave them there.

 

[Alexander]

We had them where our chimney met the house and instead of paying $500 for someone to come and trap them dh decided to take matters into his own hands. He didn't wait till night, instead he took a hose and squirted the place they were getting in and there had to be 100 bats fly out If my dh wasn't so funny to watch as he was screaching like a girl battling all the bats coming at him, or the elderly neighbor wasn't moving at mach speed to get back into her house I would have been petrified. Instead I found it pretty comical
We sealed the area up ourselves with piece of plastic to cover the opening and some kind of spray that dh had. We also made sure that they were not able to get into the attic because their droppings can cause disease, including blindness.

If you wait until the night, how would you know if they all came out and you weren't sealing any up? Do the babies come out too?

Don't have anything to help, but this post has me in stitches!!!

 

[soccerchick]

My sister had them before.

Go outside at dusk and see if you see anything come flying out.this is the time they go out to feed. If you see them count them. Then you have to have somebody come and seal the opening. It has to be done at night before they return in the morning.When they come to seal you will have to count again and make sure you get the same number you did on the 1st count so that you know they are all out.So they can see them out and not seal some in.

yeap - my friend's exterminator stopped counting after 75 bats flew out of her house. She also had the attic cleaned. Not sure the cost though.

 

[mlynn]

yeap - my friend's exterminator stopped counting after 75 bats flew out of her house. She also had the attic cleaned. Not sure the cost though.

My sister counted alot too. She noticed she had them after returning for a night shift and one was hanging in her front window.

 

[Gigi22]

Well, bats are a good news/bad news thing. The good news is that some bats are helpful little animals when flying around outside--they eat mosquitos. The bad news is that their feces are highly dangerous to humans, and in some areas bats carry rabies. If you believe that bats are living in your house, I suggest you call an exterminator.

 

[badblackpug]

Oh my goodness I think I would die if they were actually in our living area!! Thats what I dont want to happen. We have a screen in that vent area, but my mom says they can chew through anything. YIKES

They are outside? leave them alone. Bats are good, you should actually attract them to your area like the PP with the bat boxes. A single bat will eat 1000 mosquitoes in a night.

 

[disneyfans95]

We actually put up a bat house in our yard. We welcome them out there and there are about 12 or some of them in the house.

Now in our house, would be another thing. But having them in our yard and such is very welcomed.

 

[parkers*momma]

One way to get rid of bats is moth balls. Bats Hate the smell of them.

My grandmother had them in her attic. The way we have done was putting about 15 moth balls in knee-high nylons and hanging them on the rafters. We also waited until about 10pm and put them in the vents, behind shutters, and anywhere else where we thought they might be roosting or coming in and out of the house.

They moth balls last about a month and usually long enough to get rid of the bats provided you don't have an infestation of them.

 

[FFerret]

News story just from a few days ago--bats in the east as well as around TX are dying from a disease that's just targeting them. Well over 1,000,000. White nose syndrome, or something like that.

Poor little guys get this white fungus all over their wings and nose, it wakes them up out of hibernation, and then they starve to death because there's nothing (insects) around to eat.


Definitely build a bathouse if you can. They will literally eat their own body weight each night of bad skeeters

 

[LisaNJ25]

We had one in our house last night. My neighbor told me the other day she saw one in the basement (I have a 2 family house).

Scared the crap out of me. My 5yo said earlier in the day something was flying in her room but hubby didnt believe her.

So 1am this morning I go up and bed and there is was flying up and down the hall. Of course hubbby wasnt home. I almost peed my pants.

I got the neighbor to come over and about an hour after both of us screaming like 8yo girls he caught it in a pool skimmer and got it outside.

I am so hopping this is the same one that was in his basement.

Good luck OP

 

[ecamc]

Well, sis, it is good to read some of the responses you are getting. But make a decision and get those bats out of there ! I am not in favor of the bat houses, but that is just me, and probably DD1 Love ya...

 

[pediatric-rnp]

Friends of ours woke up to a bat in their bedroom. They both had to go thru the rabies series of shots preventatively, per recommendations of the Dept of Health. The general thought is that if it's in your house, it may have bitten you while you were asleep, and you wouldn't know it. The bite marks are apparently miniscule. (Something to consider for anyone who has a bat actually in the living quarters of their house.)

 

[blessedby3]

Thanks for all the replies....I only see one or two in the evenings---I would HOPE I dont have a hundred
I am sending dh up to the attic now to see if he can see any.
Some of these stories are quite comical!! I know if my dh sees any he will be screaming like a girl too
And dsis, I hope to have them gone by the next time you come to visit

 

[Matt'sMom]

Be sure you know your state laws, before taking things into your own hands. In PA, pest removal professionals go through training 2 to 3 times per year regarding how to legally and appropriately 'remove' bats from a home. They must also pass rigorous testing regarding wildlife biology, safety procedures, and related laws and regulations.

"Bats also can be a problem, though Game Commission regulations do not permit them to be captured. Instead, when a colony is discovered in an attic or barn, one-way check valves are installed over the primary entrances to the building. Bats can leave the building, but they cannot return, so they must find a new roost site.

If individual bats are captured inside a home, they are euthanized, and Game Commission agents have them tested for rabies and White-Nose Syndrome." -- Pitt Post-Gazette